Exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a connecting arrangement for connecting a wiper blade to a wiper arm for a windscreen wiper system of a vehicle. The connecting arrangement comprises a connecting element designed for holding the wiper blade, which can be fitted onto the wiper arm in an installation direction which runs transversely with respect to a wiping surface definable by the wiping movement of the wiper blade. At least one securing element of the connecting arrangement serves for the positionally secured holding of the connecting element on the wiper arm. Furthermore, exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a method for connecting a wiper blade to a wiper arm of a windscreen wiper system of a vehicle.
German patent document DE 691 01 340 T2 describes an articulated connection between a wiper arm and a wiper blade. In the wiper arm, which has a U-profile in cross section, an opening is provided to receive a latch that can be displaced along the wiper arm. If the latch is displaced away from the free end of the wiper arm, in other words backwards, a slot provided on the latch releases an articulation axle that joins two longitudinal walls of a chuck together. The chuck is pushed here into an opening which is made in a main bracket of the wiper blade, wherein clamps formed on the chuck latch into recesses made on the main bracket.
German patent document DE 101 30 903 A1 describes a wiper arm of a windscreen wiper system for a vehicle, the end region of which has a U-profile in cross section that is open downwards. An adaptor that holds a wiper blade can be inserted from below into the end region of the wiper arm, that is to say in an installation direction running perpendicularly with respect to a wiping surface definable by the wiping movement of the wiper blade. The side walls of the adaptor have recesses whose internal dimensions correspond to the external dimensions of projections protruding in a lateral and inward direction from limbs of the wiper arm. When the adaptor is inserted into the end region of the wiper arm in the installation direction, the projections therefore move along the recesses. To lock the adaptor in respect of the wiper arm, the adaptor is displaced together with the wiper blade towards an open end of the wiper arm and the projections on the wiper arm extend into latching recesses provided on the adaptor. A latching tongue arranged on the adaptor is inserted into a recess arranged on the wiper arm in this positionally secured position of the adaptor and thereby indicates that the adaptor has reached its operational position.
German patent document DE 10 2008 011 449 A1 likewise describes a connection of a wiper blade to a wiper arm by means of an adaptor on the wiper blade, which adaptor is inserted from below into an end region of the wiper arm. The adaptor is then displaced together with the wiper blade laterally towards one end of the wiper arm in order to lock the adaptor in respect of the wiper arm and therefore bring the adaptor into a functional position.
The fact that securing the adaptor in its position with respect to the wiper arm requires cumbersome handling of the adaptor is to be regarded as a disadvantage of these kinds of connecting arrangements.
German patent document DE 10 2005 016 485 A1 describes a device for connecting a wiper blade to a wiper arm of a windscreen wiper system in an articulated fashion. An end region of the wiper arm is designed as a downwardly open, cuboid hollow body having two projections protruding inwardly from its side walls. An adaptor for holding a wiper blade has two latching tongues that latch with the two projections when the adaptor is pushed into the hollow body on the wiper arm from below. A further projection formed on a side wall of the hollow body and projecting inwardly engages in a depression that is made in the adaptor. In this way, the adaptor is held positionally secured in the end region of the wiper arm.
This kind of connecting arrangement is comparatively complex and it is also difficult to remove the adaptor and with it the wiper blade from the wiper arm.
Exemplary embodiments of the present invention provide a connecting arrangement of the kind specified at the beginning and a corresponding method enabling particularly simple and functionally reliable connection of a wiper blade to a wiper arm of a windscreen wiper system.
The connecting arrangement according to the invention for connecting a wiper blade to a wiper arm of a windscreen wiper system of a vehicle comprises a connecting element designed for holding the wiper blade. The connecting element can be fitted onto the wiper arm in an installation direction running transversely with respect to a wiping surface definable by the wiping movement of the wiper blade. A securing element of the connecting arrangement, which serves for the positionally secured holding of the connecting element on the wiper arm, is designed as a slider arranged on the wiper arm and having a U-profile in cross section, which can be displaced along the wiper arm from an installation position into a functional position securing the connecting element. A particularly simple and functionally reliable connection of the wiper blade to the wiper arm is achieved here by the connecting element not having to be displaced together with the wiper blade from the installation position into the functional position in order to fix the wiper blade on the wiper arm. Instead, the connecting element remains in its installation position, while only the slider is displaced along the wiper arm in order to secure the connecting element from working loose from the wiper arm. This makes it far easier to handle the wiper blade when fitting it onto or removing it from the wiper arm.
The slider has a back and two limbs, wherein at least one projection engaging around the wiper arm on the lower side is arranged on the limbs of the slider. A slider of this kind provides impact protection if the wiper arm without a wiper blade fitted to it strikes the windscreen, for example due to an oversight by a mechanic after removing the wiper blade from the wiper arm. Impact protection of this kind is particularly effective if the wiper arm is made of metal and the slider is made of a flexible material such as plastic. The slider, which engages around the wiper arm on the lower side, also ensures particularly good guidance of the slider along the wiper arm.
A wiper blade having the connecting element is fitted onto the wiper arm particularly easily and intuitively here by a mechanic, ensuring a particularly high degree of reliability against incorrect fitting. To remove the wiper blade, the slider merely needs to be moved from the functional position securing the connecting element into the installation position, and then the connecting element and with it the wiper blade can be removed from the wiper arm counter to the installation direction.
As a pressing force, which presses the wiper blade against the windscreen, is applied to the wiper arm when the wiper blade is on the windscreen of the vehicle, the wiper arm can also reliably move the wiper blade over the windscreen if the slider is in the installation position rather than in the functional position. This applies even if the slider is defective so that it does not secure the connecting element as desired even in the functional position.
The connecting arrangement described here can also be produced with a comparatively small connecting element. This is advantageous in that only a small amount of water is released by the connecting element onto the windscreen of the vehicle with a connecting element that requires little structural space, even if it is raining or washer fluid is hitting the windscreen.
In an advantageous embodiment of the invention, one end region of the slider extends beyond an end region of the wiper arm in the installation position. As a result, a mechanic can very easily tell whether the slider is in the installation position or in the functional position securing the connecting element.
It is also advantageous if the wiper arm has at least one latching notch that is engaged with a latching nose arranged on the slider in the functional position and/or in the installation position of the slider. This is because the latching of the latching nose in the latching notch is both visibly noticeable and can be heard and felt. In this way, the mechanic can be informed that the slider is in the functional position or in the installation position. It is particularly favorable if one and the same latching nose is in engagement with a first latching notch in the functional position and with a second latching notch in the installation position. Alternatively, however, only one latching notch may also be provided, which is assigned to one of the two positions. The wiper arm can also have the latching nose and the slider the latching notches.
In a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, the wiper arm has a U-profile in cross section at least in the region of the connecting element, wherein in a back of the wiper arm is arranged a through-opening in which a corresponding projection of the connecting element is received in the installation position. If the projection, the external dimensions of which correspond to the internal dimensions of the through-opening, is received in the through-opening, then it is ensured that the connecting element and with it the wiper blade cannot move either in the direction of the longitudinal extent of the wiper arm or transversely with respect to this direction of longitudinal extent. In other words, the connecting element and with it the wiper blade are secured and fixed in their position in the plane of the wiping surface by such an adjustment of the projection and of the through-opening corresponding to it. The mechanic can also tell, when the projection is passed through the through-opening, that the connecting element is in the correct installation position in which the slider can be displaced into the functional position securing the connecting element.
If the projection and the through-opening are other than round in shape, for example if the projection and the through-opening are designed to be oval or angular, in particular rectangular or square, then the connecting element can also be secured against rotation in respect of the wiper arm by bringing the projection into engagement in the through-opening.
At least a part region of the projection preferably has a contour that is the same as a contour of a recess provided on the slider, wherein at least the part region of the projection abuts with the recess in the functional position of the slider. In this way, by bringing the slider into abutment with the part region of the projection, it is possibly to visually determine whether the slider has reached the functional position. This is because this is not the case if there is still a gap between the contour delimiting the recess on the slider and the contour of the part region of the projection.
It has proven to be even more advantageous if the through-opening and the projection corresponding to it are specifically designed for a respective place at which the wiper arm is affixed to the vehicle. For example, the geometry of the through-opening and of the projection for a driver-side wiper arm and the associated wiper blade may differ from the geometry for a passenger-side wiper arm and the associated wiper blade. A respectively specific geometry of the through-opening and of the projection may also be provided for a wiper arm for a right-hand-drive vehicle or a left-hand-drive vehicle in order to ensure that only the actually associated wiper blade can be fitted to the wiper arm provided for it. Such protection against mix-ups can also be provided in order to be able to distinguish the wiper arm and the wiper blade of a rear windscreen wiper from a wiper arm and the wiper blade of a front windscreen wiper.
It is also advantageous if the slider comprises a front wall by means of which an open end region of the wiper arm can be closed at least in part in the functional position. The slider therefore protects the connecting element received in the end region of the wiper arm and, at the same time, provide a visually attractive end of the end region of the wiper arm. The front wall closing the wiper arm to the front, that is to say in the direction of the longitudinal extent thereof, also protects the windscreen to a particularly great extent if the wiper arm having no wiper blade accidentally strikes it.
In order to achieve particularly secure fixing of the connecting element on the wiper arm in the installation position, provision can be made, according to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, for the wiper arm to have at least one recess open in the installation direction which is designed to receive a corresponding projection formed on the connecting element.
It has proven to be even more advantageous if the connecting element comprises a lower part holding the wiper blade and an upper part fixed to the wiper arm in the functional position, wherein the lower part is held relative to the upper part so that it can move on the latter. As a result, the wiper blade can be adjusted to the course of the windscreen surface when the windscreen, which is usually spherically curved, is being wiped. Because the parts that allow relative movement between wiper arm and wiper blade and are susceptible to wear are parts of the connecting element, these are likewise replaced when replacing the wiper blade together with the connecting element. This ensures that the relative movement between wiper blade and wiper arm remains smooth.
The upper part is preferably designed as a rocker rotatably supported on a pin or bearing bolt that is passed through a passage opening in the lower part. Such bearing of the upper part on the lower part ensures particularly smooth relative movement between wiper arm and wiper blade.
At least one stop formed on the lower part preferably limits the relative movement of the upper part in respect of the lower part. This is because stops can be used to limit the relative movement of the wiper blade in respect of the wiper arm particularly easily to the small degree required.
If the wiper arm, according to a further advantageous embodiment of the invention, is in abutment with side walls of the upper part in the functional position, this likewise ensures a fixing of the connecting element on the wiper arm that is particularly secure, in particular secure against rotation.
Finally, it has proven advantageous if the slider and/or the wiper arm have a recess designed to receive a component of the wiper blade if the wiper blade moves relative to the wiper arm. As a result, the slider and the wiper arm can be closed to a particularly large extent in a visually and acoustically advantageous manner, and the relative movement of the wiper blade in respect of the wiper arm is nevertheless possible as a result of the recesses.
In the method according to the invention for connecting a wiper blade to a wiper arm of a windscreen wiper system of a vehicle, a connecting element designed for holding the wiper blade is fitted onto the wiper arm in an installation direction running transversely with respect to a wiping surface definable by the wiping movement of the wiper blade. By means of at least one securing element, the connecting element is held positionally secured on the wiper arm. In this case, as a securing element, a slider arranged on the wiper arm and having a U-profile in cross section is displaced along the wiper arm from an installation position into a functional position securing the connecting element.
The advantages and preferred embodiments described in respect of the connecting arrangement according to the invention also apply to the method according to the invention.
The features and combinations of features specified in the description above and the features and combinations of features specified in the description of the figures and/or in the figures only below can be used not only in the combination specified in each case, but also in other combinations or on their own without falling outside the scope of the invention.